Ghosts of Parents Past

Some ghosts are easy to escape from; you call a priest, you perform a ritual. Or you just accept them and get used to having them around. Some other ghosts are impossible to get rid of and impossible to live with; your parents' ghosts.

Tina is relaxing on her sofa, watching MTV and playing with her loose long hair while humming along to the music. Suddenly the channel changes; BBC1 comes on. It is a historical documentary on the Roman Empire. She looks around her without moving. She reaches for the remote control and switches it back to MTV. A few seconds later BBC1 comes on again and the documentary continues. She sits up and thinks of her next move. Determined to have it her way, switches it back to MTV once again. Immediately after she has done it, the documentary is back on the screen again.

She lets a big breath out and sits back, disappointed. She is used to this happening and she knows she has no choice but to watch the documentary, so that is exactly what she does. A few minutes later, being bored of the program, Tina reaches for her phone and starts texting. Her thick hair falls on her face; she puts it behind her ears. It doesn't stay. Slowly her hair moves away from her face and, with a mind of its own, forms a ponytail. She shakes her head trying to free herself, even though she knows there is no way this is going to happen. The hair band she wears on her wrist slowly leaves her hand and helps to tie up her hair.

She is annoyed; she gets up and throws her phone on her sofa. She walks towards the balcony door and slides it open. She stands in front of it for a while enjoying the fresh air on her face. A cardigan floats towards her and slowly covers her shoulders and arms. This is more than she can take and she starts fighting with the cardigan, trying to get it off of her, but the cardigan, much stronger than Tina, starts buttoning itself, all the way up to her neck. Tina unbuttons it, the cardigan re-buttons itself. It becomes clear to her that there is no way out of this. She lets it be. If she never got to win while they were alive, there is no way she is going to win now.

She goes and sits back on her sofa. The balcony door slowly closes behind her. She is not surprised, she sits back and continues watching TV. Everything is the same as before but now she has her hair up, she is wearing a cardigan all buttoned up and she is watching a historical documentary on BBC1. "Scary and hostile ghosts are easier to handle than overprotective ones", she thinks to herself.